


More Human than Not

by Amelia Abernathy (authr2b)



Series: Eremin 7 Prompt Challenge [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demon Hunters, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-03-30 00:50:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3917020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/authr2b/pseuds/Amelia%20Abernathy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren tracks down his target, but the person before him isn't what he had expected. </p><p>Part 3 of 7 of the Eremin Promt Challenge</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Half Demon in the Alley

**Author's Note:**

> 9/24/15: If you read this fic before 3:15 pm on this date then you should know I'm expanding on it by request of a friend and it would work best as a multi-chapter fiction.

Eren stood in the center of the alleyway. He focused every fiber of his being on finding his prey. Every inch of him was focused on sensing the aura of his target. 

He snarled when he couldn't find it, he knew it was here, he had seen it run in and there was no way for it to escape. Then he heard it sneeze. 

It all happened in a moment; a blur zipped past him and he reached out, grabbed his prey by it's shirt, and hurled it into the back wall of the alley, he launched himself at it while pulling his knife out, reached out and pinned it against the wall.

He looked into the face of a blond haired blue eyed teen, who was gasping for breath.

"Please don't hurt me!" He sobbed, trying to push Eren off of him. "Please! I swear I haven't done anything! I swear!" He sobbed. Eren groaned and pushed himself away, allowing the boy to catch his breath. 

"You're not who I was looking for." He muttered. The boy looked up at him. 

"Then why'd you attack me?" He asked. 

"Cause I thought you were. Now leave, these are dangerous parts, and it's getting dark." The teen nodded and straightened his baseball cap and walked off. 

Eren watched him go, wondering how his target had managed to escape him. He focused on the boy, who was tugging the hem of his over-sized hoodie down past his back pockets. 

The wind began to blow and the baseball cap flew off of the teen's head, revealing two small horns poking out of his hair. Eren sprinted at the boy, who stumbled forward, trying to get away. 

Eren reached out to grab the boy, but he lept into the air, grabbing a hold of the fire escape above them and pulled himself out of Eren's reach. 

"Please! I haven't done anything wrong!" The boy yelled down as Eren searched around for something that would help him reach the ladder.

"You're a demon, your whole existence is wrong." Eren said dryly. The blond boy looked at him with begging eyes.

"I didn't ask for this!" He sobbed. 

"Doesn't matter. You're a demon, you don't belong here." 

"I'm not a demon!" He yelled. Eren looked up. The boy had elongated and pointed ears, two inch long horns, his pupils, which had been normal a moment before, now resembled cats pupils, and the elongated canine teeth that he had initially completed the image of a demon. Granted, it wasn't a lot like the appearance of most demons he had seen, but there was no doubt.

"You sure do look like one!" Eren snapped. Tears fell out of the boy's eyes. 

"My father was but I'm not! I swear!" Eren pursed his lips. Killing half demons was a sort of gray area among the hunting community, and the call to treat them as demons was normally left to the hunter. 

Eren slipped his knife back into his sheath. His experience with the four halves that he'd met had convinced him that the ones that had the appearance of demons were more human than not. Especially considering the girl that had been a beautiful blond but had turned out to be a half-succubus that took way too much after her mother.

"Fine, I'll let you go. But be careful, other demon hunters won't let you go just because you're only half a demon. You can come down, I won't hurt you." The boy tentatively stepped onto the ladder, which slid down to street level, allowing him to hop into the alley. 

"Thank you." He muttered, snatching up his hat and slipped it back onto his head to hide his horns and the majority of his pointed ears. Eren nodded and walked off.

 

He sat in his apartment later that evening cleaning a shallow cut he'd received from fighting the banshee he had originally set out to hunt. It had attacked him an hour after he ran into the teen. 

Once he was convinced it wasn't going to get infected, he slapped some gauze on it and wrapped it up with an ace bandage. 

He reached over to grab his cell phone to call Dominoes and heard one of the heavy metal trash cans clatter against each other outside his building. He groaned, wishing he could rest for one minute, and got up to check it out. 

He grabbed a knife from a drawer and shoved it into the back of his pants before opening the door. He walked over to the edge of the ramp and looked over at the collection of trash cans that were there to be used by him and his neighbors. A small form stuck out of one of the cans, with one arm propping them up so that they didn't fall in head first. 

"Hey! What're you doing?" He called, the person started and almost fell in, but caught themself and scooted out. The boy from earlier set himself back on his feet and quickly slipped his cap back on. Eren groaned as the boy registered who had yelled down at him. 

"Kid, what in the world are you doing? Go home!" The boy glared at him. 

"Don't call me kid, I'm twenty and you don't look that much older! And I don't have a home." Eren frowned. 

"What do you mean? Where's your mother?" 

"She dumped me in an alleyway when I was seven." He said with a snarl. Eren looked around and sighed. 

"Come on up. I'm going to order pizza, you can have some." This earned him a suspicious look.

"You were going to kill me earlier now you're offering me food?" Eren shrugged.

"Do you want it or not?" 

"Yeah, I'll take it." Eren nodded and went back inside as his guest rushed onto the second floor. The door closed behind him as he tossed his knife back into into its drawer.

"What's your name?" The boy asked while rubbing his hands together to warm them up.

"Eren, what's yours?" 

"Armin." Eren snorted.

"Seriously? Your mom didn't think it was bad enough that you had horns and a tail she had to name you Armin?" He laughed. Armin shrugged.

"I guess. I don't know. I wasn't exactly able to talk to her about it." He replied. Eren motioned to the couch. 

"Make yourself at home. And by the way," he gave Armin an amused look, "I'm twenty five, I get to call you kid." Armin stuck his tongue out at his host and sat down on the couch. 

Eren noticed during his call that Armin was constantly shifting and wincing, trying to get comfortable. When the order was made and he had the conformation of two pizzas in thirty minutes he hung up and looked at his guest. 

"When I say make yourself at home I mean it. Any other demon bits I can't see you can let out." Armin gave him a skeptical look, but stood and pulled the hoodie over his head. Eren's jaw dropped as Armin unfurled two leathery wings. He didn't even register the thin tail that Armin pulled out of the back of his pants.

"Holy shit." Armin nodded and sat back down on the couch with a sigh of relief. 

"Yeah, kinda makes it hard to get a job when you can't take off your hoodie or hat while working." Eren's eyes fell on his guest's arms and stomach, which were practically skin and bones.

"When was the last time you ate?" He asked. 

"This morning. I found a couple bucks on the ground and went to Taco Bell. I actually get a decent meal at least once a week, there's a dude that walks around downtown with meals for everyone without a home." Armin replied stretching out his wings. 

"So, why'd your mom ditch you? You don't have to answer, I'm just wondering why she would wait so long to abandon you." Eren sat down next to Armin.

"I think she wanted to the whole time, but my grandpa cared too much. He died and she left me here on her way to a new job." 

Eren frowned. "Where do you stay? It gets real damn cold here." 

"Alleyways, mostly. If it's cold I'll sneak into a store or something. The homeless shelter here sucks and is usually full up. If I didn't have to deal with the wings and tail and horns I wouldn't care, but if I went they'd freak out." 

Eren nodded and they sat in silence until the pizza arrived. Armin practically inhaled the cheese pizza that he’d been given before Eren could finish his first slice, and was asleep not long afterwards. 

 

Armin woke the next morning with a blanket draped over his body. Eren was leaning against the wall, slipping a boot onto his left foot, and looked up when he heard the rustle of Armin’s wings. 

“Listen,” he started, “I don’t typically do shit like this, but it’s getting cold and I’ve got some money saved up from a couple exorcisms I did last month, so if you want to stay here while it warms up, feel free, I can actually afford to do it.” he straightened up. “But if you say no then that’s it. no coming back when there’s frost on the ground and you’re freezing.” 

Armin frowned at him. “You really think I’m going to say no to a place to say?” he asked.

 


	2. Clean Up

Eren knew something was wrong the minute he walked into his apartment. The smell was foreign and slightly acidic, his shoes and coats weren’t where he’d left them. 

He pulled a knife out of the back of his jeans and he carefully moved through the front hall. The smell got stronger the further into the apartment he moved. He looked into his kitchen and it too wasn’t as he’d left it. Then he looked on the couch and saw his temporary house guest fast a sleep, wearing an old flannel shirt and pajama bottoms that Eren thought he’d stuffed in a drawer. 

He walked over and nudged the half demon boy’s foot until he woke up. 

“whaddya want?” he grumbled. 

“The fuck happened to my house?” Eren asked, looking down the hall as something made a loud thunking noise over and over. 

“It’s called cleaning.” Armin replied, sitting up, his tail moving as if it wanted to stretch. 

“why’d you clean my apartment? It was fine as it was.” Eren snapped. Armin rolled his eyes. 

“Well, originally I needed to wash my clothes and I went into your laundry room to hand wash them and found a mountain of unwashed clothes as I passed your room. So I took it upon myself to help. The rest happened while I was waiting for the loads to finish up.” Armin looked down at the clothes he was wearing. “these were the cleanest things I could find so I wore them while I cleaned.”

Eren sniffed again, and finally caught a citrus smell under all the other chemicals. “I didn’t realize I had lemon bleach.” 

“You didn’t. You also didn’t have any laundry detergent, fabric softener, or bags for your vacuum cleaner. How were you able to live in that?” 

“It wasn’t that bad. How did you manage to clean?” Eren asked, looking around, realizing Armin must have tidied up and wondering how the boy knew how to clean if he’d been homeless.

“I went over to your neighbor and asked if I could borrow some of hers.” Armin replied, getting up as the dryer’s buzzer sounded. “She asked who I was so I told her I was a friend.” 

“How’d she react?” 

“She was surprised.” 

“That I was out of cleaner?” 

“Nope.”

“That I was friends with a grubby kid like you?” 

“She was surprised that you had friends, period.” Armin grinned at Eren over his shoulder. “I’m homeless and i’ve got friends. The fact that you don’t is sad.” 

“I have friends.” Eren snapped. “I just don’t like them coming over here!” 

“Because you know you’d have to clean up?” Armin chuckled, pulling over a laundry basket filled with folded clothes. 

“Because my space is my own!” Eren snapped, looking into the basket and at the sorted piles in the corner. “Did you go through all of my clothes?” 

“For the most part. I’ve never met someone that never wears- scratch that- I’ve never met a guy that never wears underwear.” Armin gave him a genuinely curious look. “How do you manage to go commando with such tight pants? the last person I knew to try that nearly zippered their dick off.” Eren rolled his eyes. 

“Because I don’t hurry when I zip up… Wait, you’re not wearing my boxers, are you?” He asked suspiciously. Armin gave him a blank look. 

“I’m actually shocked you own any. No, I’m wearing my own. I hand washed them and put them in the dryer while I took a shower.” He rummaged through the clothes and pulled out his black tee and jeans. “Listen, if you feel I’ve invaded your privacy then I’m sorry, but it smelled like someone died your room so I thought I’d help.” Eren pursed his lips while the younger boy slipped the flannel shirt over his head and threw it into the pile of dirty clothes. 

“Whatever. At least you’re making yourself useful.” he grumbled, turning away while Armin pulled his tee-shirt on and carefully slipped his wings into the holes. “Don’t you have any other clothes though?” he asked. 

“I did, but someone stole them yesterday.” Eren frowned and turned back around. 

“Before or after I met you.” Armin looked up at him. 

“Just before. I was chasing them down when you began following me. And by the way, you chose the wrong person to threaten.” He told Eren. “The guy that stole them was my opposite. He was pure evil.” Eren looked away guiltily while Armin began to strip off the pajama bottoms. 

“I didn’t realize it. I’m sorry.” 

“Hunters never do. It’s the way you’re all programed.” Armin huffed. 

“Was there anything important in that bag?” 

“Some pictures of me and a friend. A blanket. Some protein bars. Not really anything I can’t live without. I kept everything really important in my hoodie pocket. by the way, don’t touch the ziploc bag I shoved into the couch. What’s inside it is all I’ve got left.” Eren nodded and moved into the kitchen for a beer. 

“By the way,” Armin yelled, “Some people called, I let them leave messages. One guy called like seven times before he left a message cursing at you and telling you to call him back.” 

“Thanks. I probably wouldn’t have noticed until tonight.” Eren yelled back. Armin waved as he moved the newly dried clothes into a hamper and opened the washer to hop in and get out the washed clothes. 

The first seven messages were from his mother, six of which were about her friends daughters that she wanted him to meet, the seventh apologizing because one of them turned out to be pregnant. The next was from his father asking why Eren wasn’t going to come home over the weekend. 

Armin finished folding the dried clothes five messages after his father, all of which were childhood friends that were going to be in town and wanted to see if he could meet up. He plopped down next to Eren and pulled out the ziploc bag. 

Eren glanced over and saw a little beat up copy of Homer’s Iliad, a couple little silver necklaces, and a dirty old library card. 

“DAMMIT EREN YOU IDIOT FUCKING PICK UP THE PHONE! I’VE BEEN NEEDED TO TALK TO YOU FOR THREE FUCKING HOURS! CALL ME THE FUCK BACK!” A male yelled through the speaker. Armin pointed at it as he pulled out his book. 

“That’s the guy I was talking about.” he informed Eren. 

“It’s just Jean. I’ll let him sweat it out a while longer.” Eren said with a shrug. Armin rolled his eyes and opened the book. 

“Hey, Eren, it’s Connie. Just out of curiosity, have you ever had a vampire explode on you? If so how do you get out the stains?” the message beeped and another picked up.

“OKAY SO VAMPIRE SLIME REALLY REALLY BURNS! JUST SO YOU KNOW!” Eren and Armin both gave the machine a concerned look as Connie yelled and a woman laughed in the background. It beeped again. 

“Hey, it’s Sasha. Connie jumped into the fountain in the middle of town. Apparently water melts it right off, and it doesn’t even need to be holy water! figured it might come in handy! Also, why do some vamps explode and others not? talk to you later!” eren snorted and sipped from his beer while the machine moved on. 

“It’s Levi. just thought you’d like to know a blonde demon was spotted near your part of town. If it attacks kill it, if not then don’t go hunting for it. Reiner said it looked pretty harmless, and if a werewolf says it you normally don’t have much to worry about.” Eren looked over at Armin with a smirk. 

“Shut up.” Armin grumbled. 

“Hey, it’s Mikasa. Your mother called. She wanted to know why you haven’t dated any of the girls she’s set you up with and she’s coming into town. I’ll start the cleanup of the streets in an hour but Jean called having a fit because he’s got a problem with some Succubi on his side of town he can’t handle so either give him a hand or let me know it I need to go. Call me.” Eren groaned. 

“It’s Mikasa again. Jean and I barely got out of the Succubi and they’re still fucking around. Can you have Sasha come clear this up? I’d try but I just found out I’m bi so I’ve got a lot on my plate.” Armin nodded. 

“It happens.” he informed Eren, who was trying not to laugh. 

“Hey, it’s Sasha. Do you know anyone that’s gay? We’ve got a succubi problem and we can’t find anyone to deal with it cause Ymir’s in Canada right now. Call me back when you figure it out.” 

“It’s Levi. Our Succubi problem is solved. There were some good vamps that were tired of them making trouble and beat the shit out of them. They’ve gone to Mexico.” 

“Eren, It’s your mother again. Are you gay? Is that why you haven’t dated any of the girls? If you are then my friend from book club has a very sweet gay son that’s looking for a partner. He said to ask if you’re a top? I don’t know what that means. Call me back!” 

Armin was on the ground laughing as the machine declared the end of the messages. Eren kicked him in the leg. 

“Shove it. she’s desperate for me to date more. it’s almost annoying.” Eren grumbled, pulling a cell phone out of his pants pocket. 

“If you have a cell then why did they call here?” Armin asked, getting back onto the couch. 

“Because I don’t have my voicemail set up and they know it.” eren told him, punching in the number to order dinner. “and I keep my phone off while I’m hunting. It’s really hard to be discreet if it keeps ringing.” 

Armin shook his head and dedicated his attention to the book. 

 

Once again Armin had fallen asleep after eating two boxes of sesame chicken and rice. Eren looked down at him and decided that the poor kid needed more clothes than what he had. he pulled his laptop over and booted up his laptop and began shopping for clothes on amazon. 

He wasn’t able to measure his guest, but he figured it wouldn’t be to bad if the shirts were a bit over sized. 

 

Two days later the clothes came in, and Eren shoved the boxes at Armin, who stared at them in confusion 

“Well, try them on! that way we can send them back if they’re to big.” Armin looked up at Eren. 

“Why’d you do this?” he asked. Eren shrugged. 

“I was taught to help others when I was able to. I had enough money that I could help you, so I did. But I’ll just let you go out and get your own underwear. I’m not going to handle that.” Armin beamed up at Eren, who couldn’t help but smile back. 

“thanks, this means a lot to me.” He said, pulling the shirts and pants out. Eren smiled and walked back into his room to grab his gear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize the Iliad isn't exactly a little book, but Collins Classics has a smaller version that is about the size of the compact paperback copy of Game of Thrones that you can find in most book stores. that's the edition i'm referring to.


	3. Fucking Feelings

Eren got used to coming home to a clean house, and even bought his own cleaning supplies and some gain so that Armin didn’t have to keep going over to his neighbor and getting lemon scented clorox. 

Armin began to enjoy listening to the voicemails that Eren’s family and fellow hunters left. 

a month into his stay, Armin was walking around the apartment, dusting, when someone with the area code of Eren’s mom called, so he let it go straight to voicemail. 

“Hey Eren, it’s Mina. I talked to your mom the other day and she said you were still single? i’m gonna be in chicago in a week, so maybe we can work over those differences that separated us after graduation and maybe we can fool around a little bit. Can’t wait to see you again, your mom showed me a picture of you and you’re looking goooood. Talk to you soon babe, bye!” He stared at the machine as the girl’s flirtatious voice giggled before the message ended. 

He felt rather empty as her words registered in his mind. He turned away from the machine and walked straight to the couch, he got on his stomach and pulled the box that Eren had given him out from under neath it. he pulled his copy of the Iliad out and began to read it angrily. 

A friend of his who had almost been a mother to him used to read it to him, and there was something about the Epic that calmed him. Maybe it was just the memories of Krista letting him sit in her lap while she read to him about the heroes and Gods, but it helped. 

Or it normally did. He sat on the couch for three hours reading and never felt any better. He knew it was Eren’s business who he saw, but he wished that these girls would just leave Eren alone. 

He also wished he could meet Eren’s mother so that he could get on her good side and keep her from trying to get him to hook up with all those girls. 

He told himself it was because it was just annoying Eren, but deep down he knew that it was because he had feelings for the hunter. 

It was five before Armin could even remotely get relaxed, so when something banged loudly on the door Armin yelped and jumped to his feet, brandishing his book like it was a weapon. there was silence for a moment and then the banging sound came again followed by Eren’s voice yelling “ARMIN IF YOU WANT TO EAT THEN YOU NEED TO OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!” 

Armin dashed over and undid all the locks, his neck and face turning red with shame. Eren rolled his eyes as he walked in. 

“I don’t know why you bother locking the door. Nobody even thinks to rob me. Not even the regular assholes bother cause I’ve dealt with them too.” Eren said, handing Armin a paper bag with Olive Garden take out inside. 

“Because I don’t want anyone walking in on me and getting scared.” Armin replied. “You’ve got a message, by the way.” he pointed at the answering machine and Eren pressed the button. Armin clenched his jaw while the message replayed and he got out his pasta, breadsticks, and salad. 

“Please.” eren grumbled once the message ended, “Not even Donald Trump has enough money to convince me to date her again.” he sat down next to Armin and began to tear into a breadstick. “I wish I could convince my mom to just stop it. she doesn’t know I hunt demons and other supernatural bullshit for a living, so she keeps sending me these girls that she thinks would make cute little housewives for me.” 

“At least her heart’s in the right place.” armin said with a shrug. 

“True. but I can’t date anyone that’s not a hunter too. Not worth putting someone in danger like that.” Armin raised his eyebrows. 

“You took me in, and I’m not a hunter.”

“Yeah, but I know you can take care of yourself. You jumped up ten feet to a fire escape with no problem.” he elbowed Armin’s side. “come to think of it, my mother wants to come stay here for a while to visit and will have to stay with me cause Mikasa’s out of town. If I get you some books of Amazon would you pretend to be my boyfriend until he leaves?” 

Armin turned bright red. “Why the hell would you ask me that?” he demanded, springing to his feet. “I’m not going to lie to her for you. Especially not like that.” he stormed out of the apartment and jumped over the railing of the building and onto the parking lot. 

he was already turning down the street when Eren made it to the door to look for him. It was at that moment that Levi called Eren to let him know about a rabid werewolf that had been headed to their part of town and needed to be taken down immediately.


	4. Werewolf

He was three streets down when he decided he’d shove his clothes and other belongings in a backpack and would try and find Krista, who must be worried about him by now. He kept walking, hoping that Eren would fall asleep while he got used to the cold again so he didn’t have to deal with the feelings bubbling up in his chest. 

A few streets down he saw a furry form bent over something, and heard squelching sounds. he approached slowly and froze when he realized what he was looking at. 

the werewolf looked up from the body of a young woman, and Armin could see where it had been ripping away at her chest. He began backing up, seeing the blood and read foam surrounding the muzzle of the werewolf. The beast began sniffing the air, then looked at him and snarled. 

Armin turned right around and sprinted down the street. He looked around as the sounds of the wolf running followed him. there were too many windows open for him to begin flying. He looked straight ahead, trying to phase out the sounds of the rabid beast following along behind him. 

He looked at the actual street at the traffic, hoping there would be a car that he could lead the werewolf in front of so that he could at least get it off his tail, but all he could see was a motorcycle zipping down the street towards him. 

His lungs began burning and he wished that Krista or Eren were there to help save him. The Werewolf got closer to him, and Armin wondered if the motorcyclist saw him. Not that they could do anything except tell the police about it. The wolf reached him first and jumped onto his shoulders, slamming him into the ground. Armin clasped his hands over the back of his neck and squeezed his eyes shut. 

Three loud bangs echoed through the street as the motorcycle screeched to a halt nearby. the wolf wined and Armin felt its claws rake across his back, shredding his wings and most likely leaving marks on his lower back. Another bang sounded and the wolf dug its claws into Armin’s back, adding to the other cuts. 

Two more bangs later Armin looked up as the wolf fell over. Outlined in the headlight of the bike was Eren, who was carefully approaching the wolf, a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. He let off one last shot, right through the eye, then turned to look at Armin. His face was drained of color. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, walking over. 

“It cut into my back, I’ll be fine.” he groaned as Eren helped him to his feet. 

“Did it bite you?” Eren asked frantically. 

“No, it just got me with its claws.” Eren pulled him into a hug and held him close. 

“Fucking idiot. If you had waited five seconds you would have known not to run around without a weapon.” he snapped, Armin felt his heart racing while Eren scolded him. “The fuck is wrong with you? Fucking running off into the night all alone for no good reason.” 

“I don’t know.” Armin replied with a sob, the scare and hurt of the night catching up to him. He leaned into Eren and cried out his stress. 

 

They arrived back to the apartment and they spent a few hours stitching up Armin’s back and wings in silence. Eren watched Armin fiddle around with one of the silver necklaces while he sewed up Armin’s wing, and wondered again what it meant to him. 

“So,” Eren said when he was done, “why’d you just up and leave?” he asked, Armin wrapped himself in his wings and tried to hide his head. 

“What you said was extremely insensitive.” Armin informed him. 

“About you pretending to be with me?” Eren asked. “I thought you would have just laughed it off.” 

“Well it wasn’t funny.” Armin snapped. “It was hurtful. You were trying to fool your mother and trying to bribe me into doing it.” Eren bit his lips. 

“I’m sorry, I was testing the waters. It was a not very successful way to see if you’d be interested in going in that direction.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Armin asked. 

“It means I did a really shitty job of asking you out.” Eren said with a laugh, he pushed his shaggy hair out of his face and looked back up at Armin, who was processing the statement. 

“Are you serious?” Armin asked softly. 

“Yeah. I’ve never been good at that.” Eren replied. “Ask my mom. She had to help me compose emails to girls I wanted to date just so I could get it right.” Armin cracked a smile. 

“So that’s why she’s so active in your love life?” he asked. 

“Yeah. Of course, dating you would mean that I would have to explain what I do so that she’ll understand your deal. But that’s not the worst thing I’ve told her so she’ll be fine.” Armin’s eyebrows rose. 

“Do i want to know what the worst thing is?” Eren shook his head. “Okay then I won’t ask.” Eren laughed and smiled at Armin. 

“So, what do you think? You up for giving it a shot?” he asked. Armin nodded. That’s why you were so upset earlier… I’m sorry.” 

“Whatever, it’s over.” Armin furled his wings back and leaned his head back. “this won’t come as a surprise but I’ve never dated anyone so this is on you.” Eren smiled and draped his arm across armin’s shoulders. 

“I figured as much. Wouldn’t be the first time though.” armin rolled his eyes in response. 

“What did you do with my food?” he asked suddenly. 

“We’re starting to date and that’s the first thing out of your mouth?” 

“You ran me off before I could eat, then I was chased and sewn up. I’m starved.” eren rolled his eyes and smacked Armin upside his head before going to heat up the pasta and breadsticks


	5. Carla

Eren wasn't sure how he felt about Armin. Not in the emotional way, he knew he cared about the adorable half demon, but he wasn't sure how he felt about Armin's decision to sleep on the couch instead of in bed. Granted they weren't quite at that stage and didn't even have to pretend to be there for a while, but now Armin had an excuse to sleep on the bed without feeling weird.

He didn’t push anything, not wanting to make Armin uncomfortable, but he did have to wonder. 

Two days later Eren woke up to Armin hacking his lungs out in the kitchen. He walked in and saw Armin with his head over the sink. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, rubbing Armin’s back. 

“No, I think I caught a cold after I went out.” his voice was raspy and he immediately started another coughing fit. 

“that’s what happens when you go out in a hoodie.” Eren teased, five seconds before a middle finger appeared in his line of sight. “Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked. 

“Not really. I get sick a lot. I just soldier through it. I can’t afford to try and relax.” Eren frowned. 

“No wonder you’re sick. You can’t push yourself like that and expect to stay healthy.” 

“I told you I can’t-” 

“You couldn’t. It’s past tense now. You need to rest.” He picked up the tiny half demon, who yelped with surprise, and carried him into the back room despite the protests. He dumped Armin on the bed. “Listen, you stay here. I’ll sleep on the couch until you feel better. and there is no negotiating this.” Armin pouted. 

“I can handle doing my usual thing while I’m sick.” he insisted. 

“It’s not whether you can but if you should. You’ve got a guaranteed home with me. You don’t have to worry about constantly being on the move or digging through dumpsters for food.” Eren sat down beside him. “Just relax. It’ll be good fo you.” Armin rolled his eyes, but Eren lightly pushed him over.

“Fine, whatever. But if you baby me then I swear to go I’ll kick your ass.” Armin mumbled, climbing under the covers. Eren grinned. 

“You’re sick, we just started dating, if I don’t baby you then you need to think again. It’s a bad first impression.” He joked. “Now why don’t you just go ahead and take a nap? If you need me just yell, or cough. Something. I’ll be listening.” Armin rolled his eyes and pulled the covers up to his chin. 

“You don’t have to do this.” 

“I know. But I want to.” Eren turned around, smiled at Armin, and walked off. Armin dug his face into the pillow. 

He wasn’t used to people doing things like this for him, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. He didn’t have much time to think about it though, the bed was still warm since Eren had literally just vacated it and it lulled him to sleep within the minute Eren left. 

 

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep when he was woken up by someone knocking on the door. He turned over and tried to block it out and go back to sleep. 

Then he heard Eren say, “Mom?” and he began talking to a woman in the hall. Armin slid out of the bed- forgetting his tail and wings and horns- and walked into the hall. Eren was at the end with a woman that looked quite a bit like him. She saw him in the corner of her eyes and turned to look at him. then he remembered she wasn’t used to his demon parts. 

“Eren, who’s this and why is he dressed up?” she asked slightly confused. Eren turned, wide eyed, and Armin gave him an apologetic smile. 

“Uh, this is my boyfriend, Armin. And uh, well we need to talk about some things…” He mumbled the last part, scratching the back of his head as he tried to figure out how to tell his mother what he did. 

“Eren,” she scolded, “You didn’t tell me you’d found such a cute boyfriend.” she walked down the hall and held her hand out. “I’m Carla, Eren’s mom.” Armin tucked his hands under his arm and smiled apologetically. 

“It’s nice to meet you, but I don’t want to get you sick.” he rasped. 

“Oh you poor thing.” she said sweetly. She walked over and slid her arm around his shoulders, then looking up at her son. “Why don’t you go make him some tea with honey? sounds like he needs it. Eren YEager that was not a request.” she ended with a sweet smile but a threatening tone. Eren nodded and walked into the kitchen. Carla lead Armin into the living room and sat him down on the couch, wrapping him up in the comforter that was draped over the back of the couch. 

“You don’t have to treat me like that,” Armin said softly, “You just met me.” Carla sat down in the armchair adjacent to him, eyebrows raised. 

“It takes a special person to date my son and keep him in line. Don’t protest, he’s a bit of a handful and you know it. This apartment has never been so clean.” she eyed the horns. “So, what’s with your get-up? He’s not… Kinky, is he?” Armin started laughing so hard he had another coughing fit. 

“Mom! What did you say?” Eren yelled from the kitchen. 

“Is that tea ready yet?” Carla countered.

“No, you’re the one that insists on making tea the long way!” Carla rolled her eyes. 

“Seriously though, what’s up with it?” she asked. Armin turned pink. 

“It’s how I was born. I wish I was joking but I’m not.” Carla frowned. 

“You were born like that?” she asked. Armin nodded and let the comforter fell away and pulled his shirt up so that she could see where his wings were fused into his back. She reached over and lightly touched the skin to confirm it was real. Eren walked out at that moment and earned a glare from his mother. 

“Eren. You have some explaining to do.” she snapped. Armin froze, but carla turned back to him, sweet as could be. “You need to wrap up or you’ll never get better.” she cooed, pulling his shirt down and pulling the blanket back up around his shoulders. 

“what do you want me to explain?” Eren asked slowly. She snapped back to him with a glare and motioned for him to come closer. 

“Show me your forearm young man.” she ordered. Eren’s eyes grew and he pulled his sleeve up and revealed his celtic cross hunter’s tattoo. Carla explode, grabbing the pillow and hitting her son with it over and over. “WHY IN THE WORLD DID YOU BEGIN HUNTING?” she yelled. Eren held up his arms while she continued whacking him with the pillow. 

“How do you know what that is?” He asked. Armin smiled at him, slightly entertained. 

“My father hunted! He died on a case! How dare you put your life on the line?!” she asked with one last whack. 

“It pays more than anything else in this town.” He replied. She huffed and stuffed the pillow back into place. 

“You better be glad you’re living on your own,” she told him, “If I had known when you left that this is what you’d be doing I would have tied you to your bed until you changed your mind.” she looked back at Armin. “He’s always made rash decisions. I blame his father.” Carla sighed and leaned back in the chair. 

“So you get onto me for not telling you about me hunting but I’d never heard about grandpa being a hunter.” Eren grumbled, going back into the kitchen to take the whistling kettle off the stove. Armin hid his smile. 

“I’m so sorry about that display.” Carla said, standing up and taking a seat on the other side of Armin. 

“So, you saw me but couldn’t tell I was a half demon?” Armin asked softly. Carla sighed in response. 

“I thought you were, but I was mostly hoping Eren was just into some whacked up roleplay thing. I don’t hold it against you, it’s not your fault that you are the way you are.” she leaned back into the couch. “He does what he wants and that’s that. I’m just glad you’re here now to give him a reason to be safe while he’s out.” Armin looked away and they sat in silence until Eren came out with the tea. 

“You know, Carla started, staring at her son, “Mikasa didn’t say you’d found someone.” Eren glanced at Armin and shrugged. 

“Well, I haven’t actually told her yet.” Carla frowned. 

“She’s your best friend! Why haven’t you told her you were seeing someone? Was it because he was a half-demon and you didn’t want her to find out about what you do?” Armin, who had listened to the voicemails of Mikasa letting him know about demons and other assorted jobs in town, sunk into the couch and sipped on the tea. 

“Well, yes and no. It was because he’s a half-demon, but I didn’t want her to come over here and try to kill him. She’s not very fond of half-demons and tends to kill them on sight.” Carla’s eyes popped. 

“Are you telling me she's’ a hunter too?” Carla asked. Eren nodded. 

“She’s the one that got me into it.” Carla’s face fell again. 

“The one person I thought would steer you straight.” she sighed. “Oh well. Armin you just make sure he stays safe.” she wrapped her arm around him again and pulled him close. 

“I can’t make any promises.” He admitted. “I’m not cut out for that sort of thing.” Carla smiled. 

“At least you’re smart.” she laughed. 

“well that makes me feel better.” Eren grumbled. He smiled at Armin behind his hand, glad his mother was getting along with his new partner. 

“Eren, do you have any fresh groceries in the house?” Carla asked, “I want to make some soup since it’s freezing and your boyfriend’s sick.” Armin‘s eyes grew and he looked between the two Yeagers. 

“You don’t have to.” he told her. “I don’t want you to have to make anything since you just got here.” She waved the thought off. 

“Nonsense. It’s my pleasure.” she looked back to her son expectantly. 

“We’ve mostly been eating take out so we’ll have to do some shopping.” eren replied. Carla grinned. 

“Good, it’ll give us a chance to talk about certain things.” She said, patting Armin’s knee. “You just rest sweetie, we’ll take care of everything.” 

Armin smiled as they left and cuddled into the comforter with his tea.


	6. Reveal

When Eren and Carla walked back into the apartment they found the TV on an old Addams Family rerun, and Armin fast asleep in a little blanket burrito. Carla pushed her son towards the couch. 

“I can get started, you make sure he’s comfortable.” she whispered, taking the bag out of his arms. He nodded and walked over to brush Armin's hair out of his face. The little bit of motion made Armin stir and he looked up sleepily. 

"When'd you get home?" He asked with a yawn. Eren sat down on the edge of the couch. 

“Just a second ago. Do you want to go back into the bedroom? Mom and I will be cooking for a while and we’ll be loud.” he asked. 

“Nah, I’m okay here.” Armin replied groggily. “Make as much noise as you want.” Eren smiled and nodded. 

“If it gets to be too much then we won’t get offended if you go into the back.” He reassured Armin. 

“Okay, good to know.” Armin replied through a yawn. “But I’m good here. Just help your mom. And try not to chop off your hand.” Eren laughed and squeezed Armin’s shoulder. 

“I’ll try not to.” Armin smiled up at him as he got up and went into the kitchen. 

Armin enjoyed listening to their playful banter and Carla’s bad food related puns. Their voices and the scrapes and dull chopping noises lulled him back off to sleep. 

Carla peeked out around the doorway and smiled at him as he slept. “I have to say, he’s adorable. I can see why you would want to date him.” Eren rolled his eyes and dumped a chopped onion into the pot. 

“That’s the third time you’ve said that.” 

“Well it’s true. I think he’s going to be good for you. I haven’t seen you act so sweetly to any of the girls that you’ve dated before. I wish I had come while he was feeling better so that I could get to know him more.” 

“Mom, you live like two hours away. You can just come back when he’s feeling better. It’s not like you live all the way in Florida or anything.” He replied. Carla shook her head. 

“I need to have something to say to your father when I get home. And I’m not going to pretend I didn’t meet him because he’ll start to get suspicious when I stop trying to set you up.” ERen blanched. 

“For the love of god mom, don’t tell dad. You know how he is. He’ll lose his shit when he finds out I’m dating a guy.” He begged. Carla shook her head. 

“Your father can kiss my ass if he pulls anything in regards to that. I’m not going to let him treat his only child like crap just for something that little.” She replied darkly. “I’ve put up with it till now but god help him if he tries to pull that religious bullshit on me.” Eren stopped stirring the onions and stared at his mother. 

“Uh, are you okay?” He asked. “You look like you’re ready to take a cleaver to someone’s head.” The darkness immediately melted away and Carla smiled brightly at him. 

“I’m fine. For now.” Eren nodded slowly and focused on the soup. 

After a little while they left the soup to simmer and went back into the living room. Eren smiled at Armin, who had managed to roll himself into a burrito in his sleep. 

“He’s slept the day through and he’s still able to sleep more.” Carla said with a laugh. Eren nodded and touched the area of the blanket that covered his little horns. 

“That happens when you’re sick.” He replied. 

“I know, I just hope he’s able to sleep tonight. Should we wake him up?” She asked. 

A reply, however, wasn’t necessary. The door burst open before Eren could even think about it and Mikasa burst into the apartment. Armin started into wakefulness as the young woman started yelling about something stupid that Jean had done while they were out earlier. 

“- Cause there’s nothing smarter than starting a wrestling match with a pissed off WereWolf and… Hi Mrs. Carla.” she finished weakly, noticing the older woman in the corner. “I didn’t know you were visiting.” Carla crossed her arms and stared at the young woman. 

“So, when I said WereWolf I meant…” 

“She knows.” Eren replied. “She found out this morning.” Mikasa’s face turned bright red. 

“I’m sorry for not tell-”

“I don’t care about you not telling me. You’re not my child and you have no obligation to tell me. However, I trusted you to keep him from doing anything stupid and yet you lead him into one of the most dangerous professions in the world!” Carla said, hands on hips. 

“I’m really sorry.” Mikasa replied timidly, looking at her feet. Carla shook her head. Armin leaned into the couch, hoping that maybe he wouldn’t be seen. 

“Lord have mercy. I can’t believe… How did you get involved in this mess?” She demanded. 

“Uh,” Mikasa glanced up at Eren, “My cousin, Levi, was raised by our uncle who was a hunter. He trained Levi and when we graduated Levi suggested that I give it a shot. And when I realized how good the pay was, I suggested Eren start it since he was having a hard time finding a decent paying job.” Carla shook her head. 

“I always thought he was sketchy, and I told your father over and over that he should have taken in Levi before he could get into too much trouble.” She sighed. 

“I never like Kenny either, but Levi’s the best hunter in the state so he makes a decent amount of cash. So it’s some favor.” Mikasa replied. 

“Debatable.” Carla muttered, sitting back down in the armchair. Mikasa looked over to Eren, and then noticed Armin on the couch. 

“Uh…” she looked pointedly between Eren and Armin, “When did you get a new housemate?” she asked. 

“A little over a month ago.” Eren replied. 

“When were you going to tell me?” She asked. 

“When it became relevant.” he said shortly. 

“Wow, hiding that from your best friend. Low blow Eren.” she said, shaking her head. 

“You’re not one to talk, young lady.” Carla quipped, making Mikasa turn red. “But you don’t even know the best part yet.” Eren glared at his mother while Mikasa shot him a quizzical look. 

“Best part?” she asked. 

“They’re dating.” Carla said with a grin. Armin turned bright red while Mikasa processed the information. 

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE INTO GUYS?” she demanded. Eren rolled his eyes. 

“Because I didn’t realize it until he’d been living here a while.” ERen replied. 

“IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW!”

“Welcome to my world.” Carla muttered. 

“Well you know now. Just don’t tell anyone else yet.” Eren said. Mikasa sighed. 

“Fine.” She conceded, sitting down in a chair opposite Carla, and looking at Armin. 

“So, I guess we need to get to know each other, huh?”


	7. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this one is kinda short, but I wrote it while killing time on a car drive at half past ass-late.

Mikasa left with half of the truth. She knew Armin had been homeless until Eren had taken him in. But she still didn't know that he was half-demon. Eren told him that Mikasa lashed out at every last half-demon that she came across. Apparently one of the evil ones had attacked her parents a while back and killed her father, so she didn't hold back.

“It’ll be best for her to warm up to you more before she finds out the truth.” He said, pulling Armin into his side. “That way you stand a better chance.” 

 

Carla left two days later once Armin’s fever broke. Her leaving triggered a flood of visits from the Hunting community. Mikasa had spread the word that Eren was seeing someone, and everyone got interested.

Levi was the first to visit since he was the oldest Hunter, and in charge of most of the Chicago community. He brought along an energetic middle school girl who kept asking Armin what it was like to be homeless. 

“Izzy,” Eren groaned loudly, “Please shut up so Levi can talk.” She stuck her tongue out at the older Hunter and sat down forcefully. 

“Are you going to apologize to Armin for being so intrusive?” Levi asked her, a paternal note in his voice. 

She looked in Armin’s general direction and muttered “sorry” before pulling her phone out and fooling with it. Levi rolled his eyes. 

“Sorry. I don't know how to handle kids her age.” He said with a sigh.

“What about Farlan?” Eren asked. “You raised him right?”

“I'm pretty sure Farlan was born with the brain of a sixty year old man.” Levi scoffed. “He's never once been a real kid.” Eren smirked. 

“Touché.” 

“Either way.” Levi said with a shrug. “How much does he kn- sorry,” he turned to Armin, “What experience do you have with the supernatural community? Just to figure out how well you’ll work within our circle.”

Armin was proud of himself for not laughing at the question. “Well, I was raised by a half-succubus, if that's any gauge for you.” Levi raised an eyebrow. 

“I heard that there was one of them hanging around. Never any mention of a kid.” Armin sighed. 

“I hear that a lot. She didn't want anyone to know about me so she just let most people think I was a regular homeless kid.” He replied. 

“Not a bad idea. Vampires and Werewolves and full blooded demons wouldn't hesitate to use you as collateral if they felt she somehow threatened them.” He said with a nod. “So how did you two meet?”

“He was outside digging through the garbage for scraps.” Eren said. Levi's eyes popped and his nose wrinkled while Izzy’s head popped up. 

“Do they actually taste good? Table scraps? Or is it just something to tide you over to-”

“Isabel!” Levi snapped. She pouted and slumped back into the chair. 

“Fine.” She huffed. 

“Sorry.” He sighed again. 

“Don't worry about it. She's still a kid.” Levi nodded. 

“I mean, you're probably going to be involved in a lot of this shit. I just hope you're ready.” Levi said. 

“I got chased by a werewolf last week. Does that count?” Levi's eyes grew again and when Isabel hopped up to ask him questions he didn't stop her, mostly because he was busy getting into Eren for letting him leave the apartment when they were on high alert.

 

Jean stopped by the next day with Mikasa. They had actually met before a few years before. Jean had been the one that got Armin his library card so that he could actually take the books out. 

So he didn't bother asking Armin any questions and just bugged Eren about being so whipped his house was now liveable. 

Jean was followed by Sasha and Connie, who spent most of the time telling him where all the good food places were so that he could make Eren take him out. 

It made him feel like he actually had a family. He hadn't felt like that in years. But he knew that it was only like that for the moment. Things could very well change the moment he or Eren let something slip.


	8. Six Months

Armin screamed out in pain as Levi and Mikasa pinned his wings down with knives and Connie and Jean held him against the wall. He begged Eren to tell the rest of the hunters that he was alright, that he didn't pose a threat, but Eren stood off to the side, looking away from the scene as Sasha prepared her bow and arrow. 

He sobbed and begged for them to understand that he meant no harm, but they wouldn't listen.

Armin looked to Eren one last time as Sasha nocked her arrow and aimed at his chest before letting it fly. 

 

"Armin!" Eren yelled, and Armin started awake. Eren was leaning over him, looking down on him with concern. 

"It was the dream again." Armin whimpered, wiping away tears that had been falling down his face. Eren smiled tenderly down at Armin and placed a kiss on his love’s sweaty forehead. 

“It’s just a dream. You know that it would never happen.” armin took a deep breath and nodded. Eren brushed Armin’s hair off of his face. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now. Nobody will hurt you, I promise. I’d hurt them before they can even think about attacking you, which they won’t.” Armin sat up and wrapped his arms around Eren’s neck. 

They sat like that for a little while as Armin recovered from the fear inspired by the dream. 

“I love you.” Armin whispered. Eren smiled into his hair and placed a small kiss on top of his love’s head. 

“I love you too.” Eren said softly. 

 

The next morning Armin stared out the window, thinking about the dream he’d had. It was reaccurring. Ever since he had met the entire group, it had come at least once a week. It had been a bit of a good thing earlier on when he hadn't been close to the rest. Eren would comfort him and promise he wouldn't turn his back. 

But now he knew everyone, or almost everyone since the mysterious Ymir was rarely in town. It hurt him to think that even now they might hurt him. 

“What’re you thinking about?” Eren asked, coming up behind him to wrap his arms around Armin’s waist.

“I think- I think it's time to tell everyone.” Armin said. “Tell them that I'm a half-demon. I want that damn dream to go away.” He replied, leaning into Eren’s chest. 

“Are you sure?” He asked. “It might not go well.” 

“I'm tired of hiding it.” Armin turned around and dug his face into Eren’s chest. “Even if they try and kill me, at least it means I won't have to worry over it anymore.” Eren pulled him closer. 

“Okay. If that's what you want.” Eren said softly. “But wait until my mom comes in this weekend. Even Levi is scared of her. And if mom’s cool with it then everyone else will follow.”

“Alright.” Armin sighed. “This weekend.”


	9. That Almost Sucked

Armin stood in the hallway with his hat off and tail out. Everyone stared at him with shocked expressions, except for Eren and Carla who were standing near him. 

And then Mikasa launched herself at him, knife drawn. Armin had expected this would happen. 

Eren caught her around the waist before she could reach Armin and threw her back towards Jean and Connie, who were pulling guns out of their pockets. She knocked them back onto the couch. 

“Jesus Christ child.” Levi groaned. “Is attack your default for news like this?” He asked. 

“But he's one of them! He's betrayed our trust!” She snarled, rolling off of the men and back onto the floor. Sasha grabbed her by the back of her shirt and smacked Connie upside the head. 

“Some friends you lot are. Trying to kill the poor guy when you were joking with him earlier. Who betrayed whose trust?” Sasha asked calmly. “The kid that shared his secret or the asses that went from friends to enemies because of some horns and a tail?” 

Connie and Jean calmed down and looked away in shame. But Mikasa was still furious. 

“Goodness,” Carla said with a shake of her head, “I thought you were smarter than that Mikasa. If he had truly meant you harm he would have killed you all by now. Use your brain.” 

That seemed to do the trick. Mikasa’s face turned bright red and she sheathed her knife. 

Isabel and Farlan, who had been dragged along by Levi, seemed completely unphased. 

“Are your wings functional?” Farlan asked, “Or are they ornamental? Cause I know certain demon breed just have them for looks and don't actually fly.” 

“Uh, I don’t know. I haven’t bothered to use them.” He replied from behind Eren’s arm. Jean was still glaring daggers on him. Of course he wasn’t particularly close to Jean so he didn’t care. 

“Cool!” Isabel squealed, “Jump off the balcony and see if they work!” She insisted excitedly. 

“Not happening.” Armin snapped. 

“Ah, why not?” She asked with a pout. 

“How would you feel if they didn’t work and he just fell and broke his arm?” Levi asked with an exasperated sigh.

“Oh. Okay. My bad.” Izzy replied, still disappointed. 

“So why did you wait so long to tell us?” Connie asked. 

“I think your reactions were a good reason why he waited.” Eren replied. 

“Well if we’d known from the beginning maybe we wouldn’t be so pissed about him lying.” Connie huffed. 

“If you’d known from the beginning then he would be dead because everyone would be against him.” Sasha pointed out. 

“Honestly I almost killed him when I first met him.” Eren said. “Imagine what would have happened if everyone had found out at once. I’d have to move apartments and I’d never get my security deposit back.” 

“I love that you’re leaving out your boyfriend getting killed.” Farlan pointed out. 

“The point was that it would have been brutal and messy.” Sasha replied. 

“So how do we know we really can trust him?” Jean asked, “Or you Eren. you knew from the beginning.” 

“He’s been having nightmares about everyone reacting badly.” Eren replied, and that seemed to soften Connie and Mikasa a little bit more. “And if I’d had my way he wouldn’t have met anyone until now anyway. I didn’t want you lot to find out about him and hurt him. But Mikasa came by with no warning, we were lucky that his horns happened to be hidden at the time. 

“Well, with your mom over I wouldn’t have done anything until after she left the room.” Mikasa admitted. 

“So can I sit down now or is anyone else going to attack me?” Armin asked. “I didn’t get much sleep and I’d like to get off my feet.”

 

Levi was the last to leave. Farlan and Isabel had too many questions about the dark side of Chicago that Armin had seen while living on the streets and he threatened to kick them across town if they didn’t leave willingly. 

“So now we just have to worry about you meeting Ymir.” Eren said with a sigh. 

“So, why haven’t I already met her?” Armin asked. 

“Because she’s been travelling to learn about how to deal with various types of demons that spring up. The variety comes from the gathering of various religious groups gathering in the city. Once their religion travels somewhere and carries the fear of those demons with it, they get to follow. It’s pretty sad.” Eren said. “Many of them leave thinking they can escape the demons, and yet…”

“So nobody here knows how to deal with them?” 

“To an extent. All demons are vulnerable to violent death but the exorcisms are a different matter.” Eren sat down next to Armin and took his hand. 

“She’s finishing up in Japan and she’ll be back home.” He finished. 

“Well, on the bright side we don’t have to worry about her fancy techniques if Mikasa comes over.” Armin said hopefully. 

“What, now you don’t trust me to protect you?” Eren asked jokingly. 

“Of course I do. I just trust Mikasa a little bit more.” Armin replied with a grin. 

“Little shit.” Eren muttered, pulling Armin close. “But the worst is over now. Maybe you won’t have that dream anymore.” 

“Hopefully I won’t.” Armin sighed, melting into the embrace.


	10. Attack Take One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but im back now~

Two weeks after they had revealed Armin’s secret to their hunter friends, Ymir came back and immediately went over to their apartment to meet Armin. 

Both men were rather nervous about how she would react, but she just ended up shrugging it off. 

“He's cute, even if the horns are kinda weird. If you're into the furry look then have fun.” She said to Eren. “Nice to meet you kid. But i’m gonna go home and get rid of some of this jet lag before I start teaching everyone the new exorcisms.” 

Armin was rather stunned at how little she reacted to his heritage. 

“She's rather…” 

“It's okay to say different.” Eren told him. “She's definitely a weird one. Always has been.”

“You're saying she's weird for not attacking me?” Armin asked. 

“No, I'm just saying that she's weird and you can't always predict how she's going to react to something.” Eren laughed, pulling Armin in for a hug, “I’m glad she didn’t attack you. Especially since she didn’t even really know you.” 

“So is that really everyone here?” Armin asked, “I always felt like there were more around.” Eren grimaced. 

“There’s Kenny, he’s an ass. But He’s getting on in age so he sits at home fairly often. But just in case, don’t go to the northeast part of the city. He kills all half-demons on sight. If you have to go there ask Levi or Mikasa to go with you, they’re the ones best suited to fight him off. He may be old but that bastard can move like a fucking antelope for like three minutes at a time.” Eren explained. 

“Good to know.” Armin sighed. “Knocks out the library.” 

“Sorry babe. But Levi’s usually patrolling so he’ll gladly go with you.” Armin shrugged. 

“It’s not a big deal, I can handle without.” He said. 

“I’ll just get you an amazon gift card some time and you can go ham in their book collection.” Eren said, kissing Armin on the cheek. 

“Sounds good,” Armin laughed. 

That afternoon they all received emails about a rowdy bunch of somethings. The email was very vague about what they were actually facing. But it was clear that whatever it was, they were big, they were noisy, they were smelly, and they weren’t human. Everybody met at ERen’s apartment since he was closest to the reported group. Armin watched from the kitchen counter as everyone got suited up. 

“Izzy and Farlan are gonna be okay?” Mikasa asked, shoving a pistol into the back of her pants. 

“Izzy’s at a friend’s place near Kenny’s and Farlan’s out of town for a school trip.” Levi replied, checking the sharpness of a knife. Satisfied he sheathed it and tossed it to Armin. “I hope you know how to use that.” Eren stopped loading his guns and looked between them. 

“You can’t be serious Levi.” 

“I am serious.” Levi replied. “All hands on deck.” Armin blinked. 

“I can use it but do you really want me out there?” 

“Not a case of want, it’s a case of need. We need everyone possible out there. Everything that it could be is bad news. Sasha shoved a bunch of bolts into her quiver and looked Armin over. 

“I don’t know that it’s a good idea, Levi. The last thing we need is to have to worry about him getting hurt.” 

“He’ll stay up high and out of the way with you until we know he’s really needed.” Levi said. “If he’s not then that’s awesome, if he’s needed then we’ve got some back up and are going to be worried more about the monsters than him.” Armin sighed and tucked the knife into his jacket. 

“Let’s hope your wings aren’t just ornamental.” Connie joked. 

“Not the right time.” Jean said. Connie nodded. 

They all left en masse and Armin realized for the first time that every one of these idiots had a bike. 

“So nobody uses a truck?” He asked as they all mounted up, “Or a car?” 

“That’s only for really bad shit.” Levi said. “And we’re trying to be optimistic.” Eren handed Armin a helmet with an apologetic look. 

“Nothing says inconspicuous like a bunch of people biking around town wearing kevlar.” Armin muttered, making everyone laugh as he got on the back of Eren’s bike. 

Nobody would ever accuse these guys of being good drivers, they were weaving through traffic like crazy, and would take really sharp turns. Armin started to get motion sick from their antics and being stuck inside the helmet. When they finally came to a stop Armin felt like he was going to hurl, and spent a few minutes sitting on the edge of the bike while Eren rubbed his back. 

“Okay kid, get up there,” Levi said, “We can’t waste anymore time.” Armin nodded and made his way up the fire escape with Sasha, who had a bow and rifle strapped to her back. When they got on the roof she handed him a pair of binoculars and an walkie talkie. 

“Be their eyes. They’ve all got one of these, it’s on the right channel, just press the button and yell someone's name and the direction of an attacking fucker.” She told him. They snuck over to the edge, where she set up her rifle and he started looking around. His heart sank when he realized what he was looking at. 

“The flying fuck are those?” Sasha asked, looking through the sight on her rifle. 

“Bad news,” Armin said, “Very bad news.” 

“Tell them then.” Sasha said, “They’re waiting for us anyways.” Armin fumbled with the walkie talkie long enough for Sasha to remind him to let go of the button when he was done talking. 

“They’re half demon half werewolf.” Armin said into the walkie, shocking Sasha. 

_“That’s a thing?”_ Jean asked. 

_“Are you sure Armin?”_ Levi asked. 

“Unfortunately,” Armin replied, “I hope you brought a lot of silver.” There was quite a bit of silence while even Sasha checked her supply. 

“All I’ve got is copper.” She said, “Copper or iron. I thought it’d be demons or something similar.” 

He wished he could be part of the conversation down on the ground, but he thought he could feel the curses floating up over the top of the building like a verbal air pollution.

 _“Is there any other way to kill them?”_ Eren asked, and Armin and Sasha heard the curses in the background. 

“Cut off their heads. That’s about it. Stuff that usually works on the bad kind of half demons won't work here.” 

_“Would fairy magic work on them?”_ Ymir asked hopefully. 

“It wouldn’t hurt if you had a spare pixie shoved in your bags.” Armin admitted. He didn’t know if that species even existed anymore. It was definitely a problem back in the day, especially overseas, but nowadays with all the development it was damn near impossible. 

_“We’re going in.”_ Mikasa said, putting Sasha and Armin on high alert. 

Armin had been expecting them to just sort of sneak in on them, but he watched as Levi and Mikasa lead a full assault. They did start using their guns as a sort of distraction while everyone started spreading around them. 

The bullets did nothing but piss off the monsters, and they soon became so enraged that they turned into a hyped up manwolf bullshit and started swarming the hunters. Behind them Connie, Jean, and Ymir literally disappeared into a nearby hardware store, and appeared a few minutes later with some serious looking axes. They ran around and started tossing them to everyone else. 

“Not a bad idea.” Sasha said. Mikasa ran over to the nearest one and swung with all her strength and managed to get the axe stuck a third of the way through. But instead of stopping, the beats grabbed her and threw her against a wall, the axe still stuck in it’s neck. 

And then everyone started to panic. 

Ymir kept doing shit that would piss them off even more, like she was performing some sort of magic. But nothing worked. Knifes, nope, bullets just pissed them off, and the closest they got to nearly killing one was when Levi threw an axe at one of them and it got stuck partway through. 

_“TACTICAL RETREAT, WE’RE LEAVING RIGHT NOW!”_ Levi shouted into his walkie. Sasha threw her rifle over her shoulder and ran over with Armin to the side of the building. 

“I don’t think we can make it in time.” She said, but Armin grabbed her around the waist and jumped. She screamed as they fell to the ground, but he managed to land and when they toppled over they only got minor scrapes. 

Nobody questioned how they’d beat them to the bikes. They just hopped on and started moving. 

 

“Okay you bastard,” Sasha gasped when they stopped in the parking lot of a walmart a ways off, “Next time you jump off a sixty foot tall building with me, give me a fucking heads up.” Everyone stared at Armin. 

“How’d you manage that?” Jean asked. 

“I’m just good with jumping.” Armin said with a shrug, “plus even if I hadn’t nailed it, we only would have gotten broken legs instead of dying or being ripped apart by pissed off were-demons.” Levi laughed. 

“Well, it worked. Maybe give your wings a shot next time so you glide to the ground.” 

“Would have but I didn’t exactly have time to strip.” Armin said. 

“So what’re we going to do now?” Mikasa asked, “Those fuckers are going to rip the city to bits now.” 

“We go get silver bullets, first off,” Levi said, “And then I’m going to go find Kenny. The old codger’s due for his last fight anyway, he may as well take some of them with him.” 

“I love how willingly you throw your geriatric relatives into fights.” Jean said. 

“I wouldn’t do it to my mom if she were alive, but Kenny’s fair game.” Levi replied, “My place is closest, I should have enough silver bullets. I have some silver plated knives and shit that we can use. But I think we need to replicate what we just did, minus the unnecessary firing of bullets and axes on our end, and more shooting on Sasha’s. We’ll give her the bullets, distract the fucks, and then let her pick them off one by one.” 

“And we need your uncle to do this?” Eren asked. Levi sighed. 

“We’ll let Sasha leave with him before I get Kenny. That way he’s tucked up on the roof before my trigger-happy uncle can get to him.” 

“Are we going to let Kenny shoot at them?” Mikasa asked. 

“You bet your ass we are.” Levi replied.


	11. Cut

Sasha and Armin almost drove right into the Were-Demons. They managed to swerve behind a tall building at the last minute, and climbed up the fire escape while Sasha texted Levi their co-ordinates. 

They weren’t super far from the last place, mostly because the demons had found some humans to eat. Armin tried not to watch as they waited for the rest of the crew. He’d seen dead bodies before, but this was just bad. There was blood on the street, and various pieces were tossed here and there. Either for later or because the monsters just didn’t want any. 

“I hope this doesn’t act like a slip and slide.” Sasha said as the roar of their motor bikes grew closer. 

When the main group radioed up, that was the first thing Armin told them. 

_“Yaaay,”_ Connie replied, _“We’ll keep that in mind, we’re going- Kenny what are~”_ he cut out before finishing. Sasha and Connie looked over to see a scraggly older dude running out with an AK-47. 

“Goddammit.” Sasha said, priming her rifle. Armin kept an eye on everyone as they moved around the distracted and pissed were-demons. 

“How much is this going to fuck them over?” Armin asked as Kenny opened fire. 

“Well, he was supposed to just run around and shoot in small bursts, constantly keeping them moving. But-” The but was explained as Kenny was swatted into the next county by the monster. A shot from Kenny’s rifle, which he decided to keep firing, flew off and caught Eren in the knee. 

“Fuckity fuck fuck.” Sasha mumbled as she started aiming. “Fucking fucking fuckity fuck.” 

“Lotta fucks in there.” Armin noted. 

“That’s because this is fucking fucked up.” she snapped, shooting and taking out one of the five beasts, which only made the rest angrier. They broke apart and started going for individual hunters, making Sasha’s job harder. 

Armin was constantly warning everyone of everything around them. Which was hopefully working out for them. 

Shit really started going south when one of the demons swatted it’s giant arm and batted Eren and Mikasa into the side of a building. Armin let go of the button as he watched them slide down the wall and crumple into little balls. 

“Don’t focus on them!” Sasha snapped, “If we don’t keep the others alive then _we’re_ going to be screwed.” Armin nodded and started barking directions at the remaining hunters. They got down another two quickly enough, but they were still at two were demons. 

Levi, Jean, Connie, and Ymir were darting around trying to avoid the swings of the monsters. A scratch from these could turn them into a Were-Wolf, and assuming the monsters were patient enough, the bite would poison them, and they’d die with the next full moon.

Their surprising saving grace was when Kenny came in screaming and opening fire again, which distracted the monsters enough for the hunters to get out from underneath them and hang on the edges. Levi flipped his knife around and got ready to chunk it.

Sasha managed to get one of them in the head, and she reloaded her final shot, following the monster around. A streak of silver flashed through the air, and the monster fell before getting to Kenny. Armin dropped the binoculars and tried to take off his shirt so that he could glide down and check on Eren, but Sasha stopped him. 

“Kenny’s still got a gun, and those bullets can and will hurt you.” She reminded him, “Just run down, go without me, I’ll meet you.” He nodded and started running down the fire escape


	12. Shit Happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise to update more soon! I've just been really busy!

Armin continued sprinting as he hit solid ground and ran into the square, where Levi was giving Kenny a lecture and the rest were rushing to Mikasa and Eren. Armin lost his footing on some intestines and fell face first into a pool of blood and guts. 

“Hey boy! What are you doing here?” An old voice called. 

“I’m not done talking Kenny!” Levi snapped, “You- _Kenny put down the fucking gun!_ ” An explosion sounded and Armin felt his hat fall off. 

“ _Kill the demon boy don’t just stand there!_ ” Kenny roared, Armin began sprinting towards Ymir, he had a feeling she’d be his best chance, while Levi tried to stop his deranged uncle. 

Connie looked around and spotted Armin sprinting towards them and batted at the other two. Ymir looked over and motioned for him to run faster and pulled something out of her bag. Armin tried to run faster, but slipped again in another pile of blood, mercifully missing another barrage of bullets from Kenny. 

A piece of paper slipped by his face and behind him, he looked up as Kenny began shooting, but the paper stopped all the bullets. Armin sighed, got back on his feet, and ran off a little more carefully since Kenny was to old to shoot and run at the same time, and he preferred shooting. 

Armin slid up to the group and Connie shielded him from Kenny, giving Armin time to take in Mikasa and Eren. 

“There’s no cuts from the beasts, so they’re free from that at least.” Ymir said, putting a hand on Armin’s shoulder. Armin stared at the blood leaking down Eren’s face as Ymir prepared something over a small fire she conjured out of apparently nowhere. He took Eren’s hand and looked around as Kenny finally made his way over, bulletless and tagged by an exasperated Levi. 

“Ge’oughta’m’way.” He wheezed. 

“Come again?” Connie asked, squatting next to Jean and offereing a hand with the bandages. 

“Fuckin demon needs t’die.” Kenny wheezed. 

“By all means old man, keel over, make life easier on all of us.” Levi snarked. 

“Fuck off boy!” Kenny snapped, “Harborin’ a fuckin’ demon-” 

“He’s not a demon.” Levi sighed, giving Armin and apologetic look. 

“Anything with demonic blood should die.” Kenny replied. Armin turned around and looked back at Eren. If it hadn’t been for the overly warm hands, he would have thought he was already dead. 

“Kenny, chill for like two minutes.” Ymir said, “I can’t focus on healing your niece and this idiot without making it worse.” She picked up a bottle of something and made Jean switch places with her so he could clean the crack on the back of Eren’s head and she could begin treatment. 

Everyone was deathly quiet, even Kenny quitting his grumbling, and the only sound Sasha made as she came up was from her feet slapping in the blood. 

Ymir switched once again with Jean so that he could cradle Mikasa and she could take care of Eren. “He’ll be fine.” She whispered in Armin’s ear as he clung to Eren’s hands. He realized that his eyes had been watering as the tears began rolling down his cheek. 

Ymir finished patching up Eren’s head, made Armin move to make Eren comfortable, and then turned around to face Kenny. 

“I hope you realize this is your fault.” She snapped, “You go in like a chicken with it’s head cut off, shoot Eren, and then your antics nearly get one of your remaining family members killed, and god forbid you get Eren killed. Carla Jeager is a force of fucking nature.” 

“The fucking demon-” 

“Has caused less bullshit than you, and was actually helpful. He was the one calling out the positions of the monsters.” Connie snapped. Levi grabbed Kenny. 

“I’ll talk to him and come back later to clean up if the pack can’t. Get those two home, now.” Levi said, nodding towards the unconscious hunters.


End file.
